No books, clothes, or electronics, please, but you’re welcome to donate other items Sept. 10 for the Marstons Mills Village Day tag sale on Sept. 11. Bring your stuff to Liberty Hall on the 10th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or to the circle at the elementary school on Main Street from 8 to 10 a.m. Sept. 11.

Something special on Village Day

This year’s Marstons Mills Village Day falls on the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and special ceremonies will be held at 12:15 p.m. on Main Street before the rest of the activities get under way.

The remembrance ceremony will include the Centerville-Osterville-Marstons Mills Fire Department Color Guard and an invocation by Marstons Mills Community Church Pastor Earl Roberts, who volunteered with the Red Cross at ground zero.

What follows is another day of small-town fun, with hamburgers on the grill at noon and Liberty Hall’s famous chicken BBQ at 4 p.m. There’s music all day, activities for the kids, many information booths staffed by local organizations, a raft of vendors (including a local soap maker), and a best-looking dog contest. Village Day is a dog-friendly event, but keep your buddies on their leashes.

Special touches include a tribute to this year’s Village Day honoree, Beryl Lewis, an active retiree who still gardens, cooks, plays bridge and entertains as she nears 100. Sunday is also Grandparents’ day, which will be marked by, while supplies last, gift certificates from Steve & Sue’s Ice Cream.

Main Street in the heart of the village will be closed to vehicular traffic from noon to 4 p.m. to make “Made in the Mills” a walkable event. Parking is available at the former elementary school on the Route 28 side.

What’s hot in Centerville?

The Centerville Civic Association will hold a board meeting Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. in the COMM Fire Station on Route 28 in the basement conference room. All are welcome.

Autumnfest planned in Barnstable Village

Donations of goods and services for the Sept. 17 Autumnfest co-hosted by the Barnstable Historical Society and Sturgis Library are welcomed by both organizations. The event on the grounds of the W.F. Jones House across from the library on Route 6A will feature “elegant food and refreshments, amazing auction items, and the company of good friends” from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. There’ll be live music as well.

To donate, contact library director Lucy Loomis at 508-362-6636 or
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, or Robbie Stewart, historical society program chairman, at 508-362-2982.

An on-line catalog of items can be viewed at www.sturgislibrary.org/news/details/autumnfest1/

Tickets for Autumnfest ($40) are on sale at the library and the historical society; Sturgis is taking credit card orders at 508-362-6636.

Elks schedule blood drive

Cape Cod Hospital and the Hyannis Elks are hosting a blood drive Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Elks lodge on Bearse’s Way. Donations will benefit patients at Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals. To make an appointment, call 508-862-5273.

Voices of the Village still speaking

Five task forces, each with 15 to 25 members, have elected chairs and are addressing the issues raised at the Voices of the Village meeting sponsored by the Greater Hyannis Civic Association earlier this year. A public meeting to report progress will be held Oct. 25. In the meantime, regular reports will appear in this space. The Association, which welcomes questions and comments via e-mail at
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, has created a website, thanks to Penguin Digital Designs. Check it out at www.hyanniscivic.com.

This week’s report is from Pat Richards and Lili Seely of the Neighborhood Task Force:

From Day One we adopted neighborhood watch groups as one of our primary goals. As we learned more we realized that our energy would be best directed in educating ourselves, and then applying that information to assist groups in developing their own groups. We are ready to deliver!

Police Chief Paul MacDonald spoke to our group in July and outlined important features of watch groups. This gave us the structure and insight to support John Lagarde, one of our task force members, in initiating a pilot program in the Compass Circle neighborhood.

A flyer was distributed to neighborhood residents, which resulted in better-than-hoped-for attendance. Again, Chief MacDonald was the speaker and offered facts about the neighborhood as well as his expertise and guidance. “You are the eyes and ears of your community” and “You know your areas better than the police” were key features of his message. He encouraged the group to report suspicious behavior including, but not limited to, unfamiliar cars patrolling the neighborhood.

The Compass Circle residents will hold their second watch meeting in early September and have compiled a list of concerns. A manual was presented to Mr. Lagarde, who, with our assistance and support, will train block captains to achieve their goals.

A “Train the Trainer” step-by-step guide will also be offered to neighborhoods asking for assistance to better their communities and bring people together. The training program will assist neighborhoods to achieve goals such as neighborhood debris cleanup, curb appeal to better property values, street lighting, stop signs and speed bumps, slow children signs, and noise control as well as the aforementioned neighborhood crime watches.

We are grateful to Chief MacDonald for his mentoring assistance. And thanks also to Roger Parsons from the Public Works Department, who has initiated the beginning evaluation of the need for speed bumps on Sea Street, which was suggested by Task Force member Russ Laporte.Co-chairs Jeanne Stevens and Pat Richards, along with NTF Facilitator Ralph Krau, met with Mr. Parsons, and will add his information to the manual guide.

Enough said! We are on our way, and look forward to offering our services to any neighborhoods asking for our assistance. Feel free to join us at our next NTF meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 4 p.m. at the Federated Church in Hyannis on Main Street.